Fast Food Archives - Page 2 of 7

New Ikea Restaurant in Richmond

Post author:Suanne
Post published:May 4, 2012
Post category:Uncategorized
Post comments:9 Comments

The new Ikea finally opened on the 25th April. It was bigger than the original location which was the first Ikea in North America. We are very eager to visit the new Ikea but we did not go on the first day as we knew it will be packed due to freebies, etc.

We went to the Ikea Restaurant for lunch on the first weekend. The restaurant was packed with people. There was a line up as expected.

The restaurant is huge with various settings for different ages. I love the new setup.

I like the new food tray cart. It is very handy for family dining.

Ben and Nanzaro opted for the 10 piece Meatball Combo which is $5.99. We switched the mash potatoes with fries instead. (more…)

McBistro Chicken Sandwich versus McChicken

Post author:Suanne
Post published:April 2, 2012
Post category:Uncategorized
Post comments:1 Comment

The boys wanted McDonalds for dinner on a Friday evening. It’s been a while they have not have any burgers.

There is a new item on menu. It’s McBistro Chicken Sandwich. So, I gave it a try. I had the BLT McBistro Chicken Sandwich. It was $5.19 on the menu. But when I got it, I had a 50% coupon which comes in the mail every now and then. Nanzaro got a McChicken Meal. So, I made a comparison of both of the sandwiches.

As the name suggests, the McBistro BLT Chicken Sandwich (on the left) has a whole piece of green leaf lettuce and two slices of tomatoes. As for the McChicken (on the right), it’s kind of sad looking with the shredded iceberg lettuce with some mayo.

For the McBistro BLT Chicken Sandwich, there are a few slices of smokey and crispy bacon on top of a piece of grilled chicken breast. I was asked if I wanted the grilled version. Perhaps there is another fried option which I did not ask.

As for the McChicken, the chicken breast is breaded and fried; so it’s crunchier.

(more…)

A&W 3 For $3 Promotion

Post author:Suanne
Post published:March 12, 2012
Post category:Richmond
Post comments:10 Comments

Ben is back in Malaysia to attend some family issues and works from there for a month. When Ben is not around, I must say that I do not eat well. The boys dictate what to eat most of the time.

The boys always ask for burgers. Nanzaro lately has a new fondness for A&W. We found an A&W coupon on Friday’s Richmond Review of 3 for $3.

I like the fact that the burger is baby size; just the right size for me.

The baby burger is just a small burger with sauce, nothing else. Fortunately, Nanzaro gave me his tomato since he does not like tomato.

Nanzaro’s teen burger has other fixings like lettuce, onions, tomato and cheese and in a sesame bun, unlike the plain baby burger. (more…)

Nando’s in Coppersmith, Richmond

Post author:Suanne
Post published:November 24, 2011
Post category:Richmond
Post comments:3 Comments

Complete Disclosure: This meal is complimentary from coupons from Vancover Slop.

Nanzaro and I had lunch at Nando’s on a Sunday afternoon. Arkensen was doing his homework and he asked for take out for his lunch.

The Nando’s that we visited is the one in Coppersmith, where Canadian Tire is. There are plenty of parking here.

The reason we picked Nando’s for lunch is because I still have 3 complimentary coupons from Vancouver Slop during the launching of his new blog or something like that.

We were there early as usual. So, there is no wait and plenty of tables to choose from. By around 1 PM, the place is full. The decoration in Nando’s is warm and rustic.

You order at the counter and paid for your food there. You will be handed your utensils and a number stand. You are free to pick any table. The server will bring the food to your table.

You can help yourself with any condiments on the condiment table. Of course, Nanzaro picked the Peri-peri hot sauce.

I ordered a Peri Nuts to munch while waiting for our main meal. A small bag of the Peri Nuts costs $3. It consists of almond, cashew nut and macadamia nut and coated with some tangy, smoky and savory seasonings. Nanzaro commented some of the nuts are quite salty when there is too much seasoning on them. I found that they are quite addictive as I finished the leftovers that we brought home.

Nanzaro ordered the Quarter Chicken Breast with Wing with Fries. When you placed your order, they will ask you the level of spiciness you desired. Of course, Nanzaro asked for spicy hot. The chicken looked a bit small… (more…)

The Richmond Public Market on Westminster Highway, Richmond (Part 2 of 2)

Post author:Ben
Post published:February 14, 2011
Post category:Richmond Various Chinese
Post comments:14 Comments

Alright. This is the follow-up on the previous post where I talked a bit about the Richmond Public Market.

We visited the Richmond Public Market (RPM) over a period of several weeks. So, don’t be surprised over all the food we described here. We are not pigs, OK? Alright, sometimes we are but not this time. 🙂

The RPM Food Court has a total of about 16 stalls. In this post we are going to cover just five of them.

All of the sixteen stalls have something unique to offer. All of them has lots to offer. All of them are really cheap too. And the menu of each stall is not trivial. I would say that if we just consider conservatively an average of 40 dishes per stall, we are looking at over 640 dishes to select from.

However, those of us who had been to the RPM knows that is not the cleanest of food courts around. It is showing its age. At least as far as I know they had passed all health inspections.

XI AN CUISINE

Xi An Cuisine is named after the capital of the Shaanxi province. The city of Xian is one of the cities of the Four Great Ancient Capitals of China and the home of the Terracota Army. That is one city I would love to visit one day.

Nanzaro and I often want to get the Spicy Wonton. Suanne and Arkensen are indifferent to this dish. It wasn’t the greatest of spicy wontons but then this is just … (more…)

The Richmond Public Market on Westminster Highway, Richmond (Part 1 of 2)

Post author:Ben
Post published:February 14, 2011
Post category:Richmond Various Chinese
Post comments:15 Comments

This is continuing the series of the Asian Food Courts in Richmond.

It was back in September when I sat down and listed down all the food courts in Richmond. It did not occur to me before that but I soon realized that there are eight food courts peppered all over Richmond. I was surprised. I knew there are a number of food courts but I did not realize there were eight.

Since then I went back to these food courts and had made fresh blog posts about these places:

Parker Place
Empire Center
Yaohan Center
President Plaza
Pacific Plaza
Admiralty Center
Richmond Public Market (this post)
Aberdeen Center

Mind you, it is not like we had never blogged about the Richmond Public Market before. Looking back our archives, it seems like we had at least four other posts about this public market: here, here, here and here.

Way back when our boys were just toddlers and money were tight for eating out, this is the place we often end up with. The food here is cheap and the choices were plentiful. We hold fond memories of this place.

The food court is located on one half of the second floor of the building. Right in the middle of the food court is a bubble tea stall. We remember that stall but it has changed owners already by now. When Arkensen and Nanzaro was just really small, they … (more…)

McDonalds New Buttermilk Biscuits — Have One On Us

Post author:Ben
Post published:February 11, 2011
Post category:Free Stuff
Post comments:54 Comments

Did anyone of you get one of the free Buttermilk Biscuits from McDonalds on Wednesday and Thursday?

If you missed that free giveaway, this is being extended but only on chowtimes. McDonalds Canada has so kindly given us a few dozen of Be Our Guest cards to be distributed to chowtimes readers. So you don’t have the fight the crowd and enjoy this at your own time.

Since we had so many, this is how we will be doing this. I will … (more…)

Grazy-Dog: Gyozaking’s Version of Japadog in Richmond

Post author:Ben
Post published:December 23, 2010
Post category:Richmond
Post comments:8 Comments

Updated: 4th July 2012; This restaurant had closed according to Urbanspoon.com.

Ed broke the news about a new street cart in Richmond (link here) about a month ago. As I read his post, I can’t help but think that this is a copy cat of Japadog.

I did a few half-hearted attempt to look for Grazy-Dog. It was more to see what they have, not really wanting to try them. I thought it was tucked between the rows of warehouse businesses north of the Superstore on No 3 Road. I drove around the area on three different occasions and each time I could not locate them. I soon forgot about them.

A couple of days ago, we got an email from Gerri telling us about how much she likes Grazy-Dog and said we should go try it.

Today I went to look for Grazy-Dog again. I am on “forced-leave” for the rest of the year because I still have some vacation days left and I need to use them up. Suanne abandoned me to do her stuff. I hate to eat alone and so I managed to convince Nanzaro to come along with me.

This time we got the location and opening hours before we went. We found out that Grazy-Dog opens from noon till 8PM and that they were in the side of the building between PJ’s Pets and the Superstore. We went and waited at that spot for sometime and was puzzled why the van was not there at noon.

We did not realize that they had moved. It is now located in front of No 3 Road. It is definitely a much better location as they are going to be more visible from the busy No 3 Road. I later found out that they had moved to this new location just 1 week ago.

Talking about visibility, you can’t miss them. The van, named G-Wagon, is painted in neon pink.

Grazy-Dog has a big name behind them. The Gyoza King Group behind some of the popular Japanese restaurants in town including:

Gyoza King in Vancouver
Nanchuu in Richmond (post here)
G-Men Ramen in Richmond (post here)
Chicco Cafe in Vancouver (post here)
Gyo-O in Richmond

Actually I have doubts over what the words “Gyozaking produced” means. The reason is because Gyoza King’s website has no mention about Grazy-Dog. I mean, does Gyoza King actually owns this street cart?

It took us a while for us to understand the menu. Click on the menu to show it larger.

Basically, you select the type of sausage from a choice of three:

All Beef Sausage ($4.50)
Bavarian Sausage ($5)
Bratwurst Sausage ($6)

The prices above will include a choice of seven styles of toppings (the image on the right).

On top of these hot dogs, there is one that has the works called the GrazyDog Style. This one is the most expensive and is $3 in addition to the type of sausage selected.

There is a couple of sausage-less dogs that they call Creative Dog ($6 each).

The G-Wagon is quite cramped and has barely enough room for two persons to work. Moreover, I felt the ceiling of the van is really low and I can imagine them having a backache working all day in the van.

Anyway, lest you think this is fast food, it is not as fast as you think it is. It took slightly less than 10 minutes for them to make our sausages. It seems like they had to sear some of the ingredients with a handheld blow torch during the assembly.

Nanzaro and I decided that we should go for the $9 top of the line Bratwurst with the GrazyDog style toppings. I asked them to let me take a picture of the grilled bratwurst because it looked so good.

Oh gosh. This thing is big. It is so big and overflowing with stuff that they had to … (more…)

Five Guys Burgers and Fries in South Surrey

Post author:Ben
Post published:August 10, 2010
Post category:Surrey
Post comments:0 Comments

It was Wils who told us that Five Guys opened their second outlet. And I knew it was where we wanted to bring the boys to because they love burgers. OK fine … they don’t like that mum and dad always brings them to Asian restaurants.

This time I did not tell them where we were going out for dinner. I just told them it is a long drive and that we are going to Surrey.

“Surrey?!?” they both exclaimed, knowing Surrey is the direction to the Canada-US border.

“Yeah” I said, “not only Surrey … it’s SOUTH Surrey”.

And then I had to get lost on the way. The iPhone battery died and I was relying on that for navigation. So, I went round and round until I found 160th Street. To them it was not funny. 🙂

I had never been to this part of the world before. I mean, I drove past this place on the way to the US border crossing. I am just impressed how built up this whole place is. They have every big box stores you can think of.

When we arrived, they were happy to see that it’s a burger joint. At least it is not another Asian restaurant after driving so far.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J19w5TSTjcg&hl=en_US&fs=1&color1=0x2b405b&color2=0x6b8ab6]

Have you ever seen the video above before? It is not surprising that Obama goes to Five Guys for burgers since Arlington (minutes away from Washington DC is the where Five Guys first started.

Anyway, take note of Obama’s order number at about 1:20 into the video.

For a supposedly upscale burger restaurant, the decor is a bit sparse. The whole theme is blood red and white with double checkered motifs.

Like in most Five Guys restaurants, they stack bags and bags of potatoes and boxes of peanut oil in the dining area.

Unlike other burger places, they have free peanuts which is stacked inconspicuously on the boxes of peanut oil. They are meant for you to snack on while you wait for the burger to be made. I think it is a good idea.

The peanuts are salted. Nice but I had better, crunchier ones. Am not complaining though since they are free … sort of.

Click on the image above to enlarge the menu. It is a very simple menu … but kind of expensive.

You get either the plain hamburger, with cheese and/or bacon. The standard size is double patties. The “little” ones are single patties.

It is the toppings that is kind of wild. They have 15 to choose from and they are free with the burger.

The ones that they call “All The Way” includes Mayo, Lettuce, Pickles, Tomatoes, Grilled Onions, Grilled Mushrooms, Ketchup and Mustard.

Then there are the “Everything” which also includes Relish, Onions, Jalapeno Peppers, Green Peppers, A1 Sauce, BBQ Sauce and Hot Sauce.

I don’t know about you, but for me it is too much to think over each and everyone … same goes for Suanne. We just ask for EVERYTHING. Arkensen and Nanzaro is more adept in choosing the toppings. They just choosed 4 types of toppings. I just had to tell them “get everything, they’re free”.

So the above is our order. Four burgers, a large fries and drinks came up to $45. I dunno … I find it expensive for burgers.

Oh remember I asked you to remember Obama’s order number? Well, his number is … (more…)

Chicago: Foodlife

Post author:Ben
Post published:June 1, 2010
Post category:Chicago 2008
Post comments:0 Comments

Time to eat. After the Chicago History Museum, I headed back to the Magnificent Mile.

I read about a place where they say is a gourmet food court. It is located at the Water Tower Place, the same high-rise building that Oprah’s apartment was.

I never quite get this place why so many people raved about it. Foodlife is the name of the place. You can’t just walk in.

If you want to eat, you gotta pay first and get a value card before they let you in. So you are supposed to … (more…)